Abdominal leak in female P. irminia - a case report

OldFlash

Arachnosquire
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A sad one for me but it’s important to leave this record here on AB.

I removed this tissue from the abdomen of an adult female P. irminia last night. It's about the size of a single rice grain, little bit thicker.

IMG_2100.jpeg

IMG_2099.jpeg

I noticed a yellowish jelly-like fluid stuck between her 4th leg and abdomen, but didn’t see any injury. During a closer look, after cleaning the fluid, I finally was able to find a small tear with a soft but solid tissue starting to spill out. At first, I tried pushing it back in, but that didn’t work. I decided to pull out what was already exposed in order to stop the leakage immediately . From what I’ve looked up, there’s a chance it could be a oviduct or maybe something tied to her digestive system.

For the past two weeks she had been spending most of her time outside her hide, which wasn’t usual. I noticed this, but there was nothing externally indicating something was wrong. I checked the burrow to see if there was anything bothering her, but nothing unusual. There was no fall, no crickets left in the terrarium that could have caused any damage, and nothing sharp that could have caused a perforation.
Putting the pieces together, I think something was happening internally, causing discomfort, making her more restless. Some kind of pressure that ended up causing that region to rupture, pushing things out.
One detail worth mentioning: she was paired on 02/01, a month ago.

The rupture is super close to where the abdomen meets the cephalothorax. This picture was taken after the "treatment":

IMG_2108.jpeg

Needless to say she won’t survive. Obviously. She’s alive still but will likely die in the next few hours, completely lethargic.

If this diagram is correct, what I circled in it looks pretty similar to what was removed.

IMG_2106.jpeg

The whole thing sucked. From the moment I decided to remove that thing I knew all hopes were gone.

Anyway, sharing this on the forum is a way to get something positive out of all this I guess.

And, of course, if any of you know what this tissue or organ might be, or if you’ve gone through something like this before, I’d love to get your input 👊
 
Last edited:

Charliemum

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I am sorry my friend 😔. I have never seen anything like this. It almost looks like the muscle/tendon that joins the t together.... I truly hope she heals and it is just connective tissue. My thoughts n hope are with you both.
 

NMTs

Theraphosidae Rancher
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Jan 22, 2022
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1,588
A sad one for me but it’s important to leave this record here on AB.

I removed this tissue from the abdomen of an adult female P. irminia last night. It's about the size of a single rice grain, little bit thicker.

View attachment 493954

View attachment 493955

I noticed a yellowish jelly-like fluid stuck between her 4th leg and abdomen, but didn’t see any injury. During a closer look, after cleaning the fluid, I finally was able to find a small tear with a soft but solid tissue starting to spill out. At first, I tried pushing it back in, but that didn’t work. I decided to pull out what was already exposed in order to stop the leakage immediately . From what I’ve looked up, there’s a chance it could be a oviduct or maybe something tied to her digestive system.

For the past two weeks she had been spending most of her time outside her hide, which wasn’t usual. I noticed this, but there was nothing externally indicating something was wrong. I checked the burrow to see if there was anything bothering her, but nothing unusual. There was no fall, no crickets left in the terrarium that could have caused any damage, and nothing sharp that could have caused a perforation.
Putting the pieces together, I think something was happening internally, causing discomfort, making her more restless. Some kind of pressure that ended up causing that region to rupture, pushing things out.
One detail worth mentioning: she was paired on 02/01, a month ago.

The rupture is super close to where the abdomen meets the cephalothorax. This picture was taken after the "treatment":

View attachment 493963

Needless to say she won’t survive. Obviously. She’s alive still but will likely die in the next few hours, completely lethargic.

If this diagram is correct, what I circled in it looks pretty similar to what was removed.

View attachment 493964

The whole thing sucked. From the moment I decided to remove that thing I knew all hopes were gone.

Anyway, sharing this on the forum is a way to get something positive out of all this I guess.

And, of course, if any of you know what this tissue or organ might be, or if you’ve gone through something like this before, I’d love to get your input 👊
Your assumption about the ultimate outcome seems likely to me, too, but she would die either way and now you've taken the opportunity to make this a learning experience and share it with the community. That is much appreciated.
 

jennywallace

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Apr 23, 2023
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125
So sorry to hear this, but thanks for sharing as you say it's important to document these things. Hope your T pulls through.
 

Arachnophobphile

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Dec 24, 2018
Messages
1,092
Sad

Documenting this is highly appreciated. I've never read anything like this happening to any tarantula.

It kind of makes me think of an impaction but instead of the tarantula's anus being impacted it happened in another part of the abdomen.

With no source in the enclosure that could of caused this it's a puzzling mystery. I never read or heard of a gravid female going through such an ordeal. That's if she was even gravid.
 

Brewser

RebAraneae
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Nov 28, 2023
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Quite tragic news for sure, sorry to learn of this.
Hope springs eternal,
However small, there is a chance.
Thanks for sharing the news.
Best Regards,
 

TheraMygale

Arachnoprince
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Mar 20, 2024
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1,229
I find this share to be valuable. Its sad for your tarantula. However, it helps us all learn.

that thing you pulled out really looks the same shape as in the anatomy picture.

notice anything off during the pairing?

was she overly fat? More then usual for a potentialy gravid female?
 

TenebrisAvicularia

Arachnopeon
Joined
Dec 15, 2024
Messages
30
Sometimes I wonder how often the females sustain internal injuries during pairing. I've seen one video from Dave's Little Beasties that showed a bit of spermatheca had torn and was visible on the male's palpal bulb after pairing Theraphosa stirmi.

The piece that came out of her does match the shape of the internal organs in that area of her abdomen.
I don't think that we can ever be 100% sure what happened to cause the rupture, but it is educational and very sad to see.
 
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